Omar Figueroa Jr. had to feel the nerves coursing through him again. It was a welcome greeting, that tingly pinch in his legs and arms. It was his body’s way of telling “El Panterita” he was ready to go—that the 19-month layoff was over and his passion for boxing was fully reignited.

It’s been nearly 18 months since Artur Szpilka came up short against Deontay Wilder in his first attempt to become the first Polish heavyweight champion—and now the powerful southpaw is ready to resume that pursuit.

He didn’t even shoot his target a glance upon shooting his right hand. “I didn’t have to look at him,” Deontay Wilder explains, reflecting on the inevitability of flesh meeting canvas. “I knew he was going down.”

There has never been a French or a Mexican heavyweight champion, a drought prolonged in 2015 by the man on the other end of the phone, his voice as emphatic as the sound of one of his punches landing home. Now, Deontay Wilder looks to start the new year by denying yet another country its shot at boxing history. Poland, you’re up.